1. Dear Diary, 17th November 1898
I have witnessed how we Filipinos, heroically
stood up to the Spanish colonizers. All the while
we thought that we have already gained
independence from them. However, our total
victory was impeded by the collaboration between
Spain and the United States, where Spain
handed over the Philippines to the US for 20M
dollars.

4. • The Cuban revolution
against the Spaniards broke
out in 1895. The United
States supported the Cubans
because the latter‟s
liberation from Spain would
benefit their trading
interests.
• On February 15, 1898, the
warship Maine of the
Americans was blown up in
the Port of Havana.
• On May 1, 1898, the fleet of
Commodore George Dewey
destroyed the Spanish fleet
led by Admiral Montojo.

5. • On May 17, 1898, Emilio
Aguinaldo left Hong Kong
aboard the US ship
McCulloch.
• Although he was assured by Dewey that the US
had no plans to colonize the Philippines,
unknown to him, US forged an agreement with
General Fermin Jaudines where:
– A mock battle between the Spaniards and the
Americans would be conducted.
– The Spaniards would surrender to the American
troops.
– The Filipinos would not be allowed to participate in
the Spaniards‟ surrender.

6. Mock Battle in Manila

7. • It began on August 13,
1897 at around 9:30 am
by the bombing of
Olympia in Fort San
Antonio Abad.
• After an hour, General
Greene‟s forces
attacked from Malate.
General Arthur
MacArthur troops
advanced from
Singalong.
• By 11:20AM, the
Spaniards waved their

8. TREATY OF PARIS

9. The Peace Commission is
composed of:
5 Spaniards:
• Eugenio Montero Ríos
• Buenaventura de Abarzuza
• José de Garnica
• Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa
• Urrutia Rafael Cerero
5 Americans:
• William R. Day
• William P. Frye
• Cushman Kellogg Davis
• George Gray
• Whitelaw Reid

10. • On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris
was signed. It stated that Spain would turn
over the Philippines to the United States in
exchange of $20,000,000.
• US would recognize the rights of Spaniards
to sell their goods in the Philippines in the
next ten years.
• This anti-Filipino treaty proved that US
imperialists had never recognized the
Republic of the Philippines.

11. THE PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE

12. • On July 12, 1898, Philippine independence was
declared in Kawit, Cavite.
• It was the first time, the Philippine flag made in
Hongkong by Mrs. Marcela Agoncillo was unfurled,
while the “Marcha Nacional Filipina”, a composition
of Juan Felipe, was playing.
• The Declaration of Independence was written and
read by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista.
• Aguinaldo established a republic that was not
sovereign, but a mere “protectorate”, under the
protection of United States.

13. Revolutionary Government

14. • On June 23, 1898, Aguinaldo issued a decree establishing
the Revolutionary Government.
• The decree created four agencies of the government:
- Department of Foreign Relations, Navy and Commerce
- Department of War and Public Works
- Department of Police, Internal Order, Justice,
Education and Cleanliness
- Department of Finance, Agriculture and
Industry and Manufacturing
• It also created the Congress which was tasked to look after
the people‟s interests, implement the revolutionary laws,
uphold agreements and debts, study and affirm the reports
of the Secretary of Finance and new taxes.

15. McKinley’s “Benevolent Assimilation

16. • On December 21, 1898,
President McKinley
made his benevolent
assimilation
proclamation.
• He announced that the
US would enforce its
sovereignty over the
Filipinos.
• He also ordered his
military chief in the
Philippines to extend US
rule in the country

17. • On January 4, 1899, General Elwell Otis
attempted to hide the real contents of the
“Benevolent Assimilation” by publishing a
watered down version of the proclamation.
• But General Miller, another American Official,
published the proclamation‟s original
version.
• When the revolutionary government had
taken hold of the proclamation, they
immediately condemned it.

18. • Antonio Luna, editor of La Independencia,
led in assailing the proclamation.
• He called it “a plot to temporarily silence the
people before launching and unleashing all
the hateful characteristics of governance as
employed by the Spaniards in the
Philippines.”
• On January 5, 1899, Aguinaldo replied to the
proclamation.

19. • Aguinaldo protested against the “harsh US invasion
over a part of the territory of the Philippines.”
• In a revised proclamation on the same day,
Aguinaldo opposed “the US intervention on the
sovereignty of the islands.”
• He warned that the Filipino Government was
prepared to fight should the US troops attempt to
colonize the islands in the Visayas.
• General Otis considered Aguinaldo‟s proclamations
as challenges to war. The Americans silently
prepared for a war aggression.

20. THE MALOLOS CONSTITUTION

21. • On January 21, 1899,
Aguinaldo proclaimed the
Malolos Constitution. It
was drafted by the
Constitutional committee
created by the Congress.
• It created a state with the
government divided into
three branches: executive,
legislative and judicial.
The legislative, which was
composed of the
Assembly of
Representatives, was the
most powerful.

22. The Constitution was also firm on the following
important provisions:
- Separation of the church and state
- Recognition of each other‟s situation
-Free public education at the primary
level
- Protection of lives, homes and
properties
- Collection of taxes as mandated by law
• On January 23, 1899, Aguinaldo founded the
Republic of the Philippines. He was also the
first President of the Republic of the

23. The Outbreak of the
Filipino-American War

24. • The flames of war were
ignited on the eve of
February 4, 1899.
• Private Willie Grayson‟s
group patrolled at San
Juan.
• Grayson fired at a Filipino
soldier, prompting an
exchange of fires between
two groups.
• Gen. MacArthur ordered to
or assault the Filipino
troops.
• Aguinaldo to Otis: “I had
not ordered the Filipino
soldiers to fire” and
“Armed fighting must be

25. The Hunt for and the Capture of
Aguinaldo

26. • When the anticipated reinforcement of
the US troops arrived, the aggressors
intensified the hunt for Aguinaldo.
• When General Luna died, a good part of
Filipino troops lost heart.
• When Aguinaldo found this out, he
escaped, hid and chose difficult area to
assault.

27. • In order to capture not just Aguinaldo, but the whole land,
the Americans made an extra effort to use wealthy
Filipino traitors.
• Finally, Aguinaldo fell into the hands of Americans, but
the other generals continued the struggles.
• US imperialism only managed to colonize the Philippines
after thorough and merciless wars.
• 130,000 US troops ( seven thousand were killed and
wounded) vs 7 M Filipinos (more than 50,000 were killed).
• They used several methods of cruelty: massacre, rape,
zoning, torture and concentration camps.

28. UNITED STATES’ OBJECTIVE IN
COLONIZING THE PHILIPPINES

29. • The Americans needed new market for their
products.
• They were also on the lookout for new sources of
cheap raw materials.
• The US hoped to use the Philippines as its base in
its drive to control the entire Pacific Ocean and
other countries.
• However, President McKinley and President
Wilson made the Filipino believe that the
Americans intention was to teach the latter about
democracy and governance.

30. ECONOMIC POLICIES

31. • The American colonial government expanded and
speeded up the production of raw materials like sugar,
coconut, wood products etc.
• Philippine exports to the U.S. increased in 1913, after
free trade was implemented.
• It was a set-up that made the entry of goods into
Philippines duty-free and tax-free.
• Although it boosted production, free trade made our
economy focused on exporting raw materials while
importing expensive manufactured goods.

32. •With the Americans‟ direct control of the country, they
invested directly in:
1) Increasing raw materials production
2) Trading in light manufactures
3) Infrastructure development
• To facilitate transportation and communication,
which were necessary in trading, the colonial
government and the American firms built and profited
from infrastructure projects.
• They utilized loans from foreign banks which
resulted to Philippines incurring huge deficits since
the cost of import products was more than that of the
country‟s earnings from exports.

33. • American government
pushed landless peasants for
the cultivation of more
farmlands to further boost
productions.
• To quell the peasants‟
uprising in 1903, they brought
lands from friars and
implemented the Homestead
Act so the people could avail of
titles for the lands they started
to farm.
• Landlords continued to exact
rents or levy duties from their
„tenant‟ farmers. In other
farmers, capitalist farming
arose in which farmers became
farm workers.

34. POLITICAL
POLICIES

35. The Military Government
• The American troops went to a war towards
establishing the military government in August 1898
in the Philippines.
• The power of every Governor-General who served
under this government came directly from the
President of the United States, as the military‟s
Commander-in-Chief.
• They organized the civilian courts, including the
Supreme Court Justice. They also appointed the first
Filipino Supreme Court Justice.
• The American military government established a
local government in every town and province that
their troops had invaded. They called an election, but
those who were educated and well-off could vote
and get elected.

36. The Civil Government
• Even as the American troops were still fighting the Filipino
revolutionaries, Pres. McKinley had sent two Philippine
Commissions tasked to establish a civil government. The first
failed to achieve anything significant, but the second was more
successful.
• The Philippine Commission composed mostly of American
civilians and military personnel, performed the executive and
legislative functions.
• Dr. T.H. Pardo Tavera, Felipe Buencamino and Dr. Pedro
Paterno among others founded the first political party in the
country, the Partido Liberal, which called for collaboration with
the U.S. In 1901, the Americans installed some of the party‟s
members in the Philippine Commission.
• The Philippine Commission passed the Sedition Act, which
imposed imprisonment and the death penalty to anyone
advocating freedom or separation from the U.S. even through
peaceful means.

37. • The Philippine Assembly was
established in 1902 and served
as the Lower Chamber. It took
on the roles of facilitating tax
collection and allocating
government revenues.
• In 1916, the U. S. Congress
passed the Jones Law, also
known as the Law on Philippine
Autonomy. It was the first formal
and official American
commitment to grant
independence to the Philippines,
“ as soon as a stable
government can be established
herein.”
• In 1901, the U.S. colonialists
formed the Philippine
Constabulary which was headed

38. Cultural Policies

39. • In the process of molding
the Filipino market came
American movies, radio,
automobiles, literature,
dances and games.
• The Americans
established the public
educational system that
used English as the
medium of instruction.
• As schools were
established, the
Americans gave away free
books, supplies, candies
and chocolates to
encourage the children to
attend.

40. • The first teachers were the
American soldiers followed
by trained teachers who
arrived in the country aboard
the SS Thomas.
• U.S. trade policies
encouraged the export of
cash crops and the
importation of manufactured
goods; little industrial
development occurred.
• Meanwhile, landlessness
became a serious problem in
rural areas; peasants were
often reduced to the status of
serfs.

41. INDEPENDENCE MISSIONS

42. • The first official and clear response to the call for independence
was the Jones Law of 1916 which replaced the Philippine
Organic Act of 1902. It established for the first time an elected
upper house, which would eventually become the Philippine
Senate.
• The Philippine Legislature constituted the Independence
commission which recommended sending Independence
Missions to the United States.
• In 1919, Senate President Quezon led the first Independence
Mission. Unfortunately, it was not entertained by US President
Woodrow Wilson.
• In all, eleven Independence Missions was sent annually. The
government shouldered the huge costs of the missions until
Insular Auditor Ben Wright disallowed the spending of public
funds for such.

43. HARE-HAWES-CUTTING ACT AND TYDINGS-
MCDUFFIE ACT on PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE
• The ninth Mission known as
“OSROX” (Osmeña and Roxas)
brought home the Hare-Hawes-
Cutting Act.
• After that, Quezon, in his solo
Independence Mission, asked
for another law that will grant
freedom to the Filipinos. He
successfully brought home the
Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934.
• The Tydings- McDuffie Act
allowed for a ten-year
transition under a Philippine
Commonwealth in preparing
for the granting of freedom on
July 4, 1946.

44. • Pursuant to the new Act, and after American
Governor General Frank Murphy set the elections for
the delegates to the convention in 1934, the
Philippine Legislature called for a convention to draft
a Constitution.
• After six months, the Convention finished and
agreed on the Philippine Constitution in February
1935.

45. Commonwealth of the Philippines

46. • First election - September 1935
• Quezon and Osmeῆa joined forces against
the Nationalist Socialist Party and
Republican Party = victory
• Commonwealth Government was
inaugurated in Manila
• Sec. George Dern (Secretary of War) read
the proclamation under the Jones Law:
– Ending the US government in the Phil.
– Start of Phil. Commonwealth

47. Changes During the Commonwealth Period
• Filipinos oversaw the
affairs of the gov‟t but still,
all major decisions had to
be approved first by the
U.S.
• Economic set-up was
retained.
• Free trade was extended
until Dec. 31, 1960
• Intensification of
production and Phil.
consumption from the U.S.
• Philippine trade increased.
• Development of mining
industry
• Revision of taxation

48. • Establishment of Phil. Congress
– Senate
– House of Representatives
• Quezon reorganized gov‟t bureaucracy – new
departments formed:
– Finance, Interior, Justice, Defense,
Commerce, etc.
• Court of Appeals & Court of Industrial
Relations were added.
– Increase in judges‟ salaries
• National Defense Act – first law passed by
Commonwealth